In this episode, we delve into 1 Thessalonians, uncovering the powerful messages shared by Paul and his companions with the early church. As Dr. Donald Sweeting reads from Thessalonians, you’ll gain insights into the transformative nature of faith, the importance of maintaining a strong testimony, and how journaling your Bible reading can deepen your spiritual journey. Embrace the call to share your faith and inspire those around you.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today I am recording the 40th book of the Bible. That’s amazing, isn’t it? 1 Thessalonians will be the 40th book of the Bible that we have recorded through AdBible. So let’s take a look at 1 Thessalonians. We’ll look at my English Standard Version Study Bible book introduction. to learn about 1 Thessalonians. The Apostle Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians from Corinth during his second missionary journey around 50 AD. Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. Because it was a harbor town, it was a flourishing city of trade and philosophy with a population of over 100,000 people. Paul, Timothy, and Silas all preached in Thessalonica in the synagogue to Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and many converted to Christianity. Jewish opponents instigated a riot against Jason, Paul’s host, forcing them all to leave Thessalonica prematurely. Paul was concerned for the new believers in Thessalonica, so he sent Timothy back there a few months later. Timothy and Paul met up in Corinth, where Timothy updated Paul on the church. Generally, the church was doing fine, but a few members had died, and because they didn’t understand the second coming, some thought those dead would miss it. That raised a second concern, and that’s the timing of the day of the Lord. What if they also died? Could they also miss the second coming? They also didn’t expect that the initial persecution of the church they were facing would last as long as it was lasting. Then they were also disappointed that Paul himself did not return to Thessalonica, but he sent Timothy. And finally, some of the new Christians were depending on wealthier Christians to provide for them rather than earning a living themselves. Thus, Paul composed 1 Thessalonians to address all those issues. The most prominent theme of the letter is the second coming of Jesus. It’s mentioned in every chapter of the book. Paul tells us how to prepare for the return of Christ. First warn the lazy, next comfort the frightened, then care for the weak, be patient, and do something good for someone. The church in Thessalonica was the first one Paul ever wrote a letter to. Our guest reader for 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians is Dr. Donald Sweeting, president of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado. Colorado Christian University is the premier interdenominational Christian college in Colorado and the eight-state Rocky Mountain region. It offers over 100 degree programs and is ranked as one of the top universities nationwide. It serves over 8,000 students, a large number of those as adult, graduate, and undergraduate students. Prior to becoming the president of CCU, Dr. Sweeting was president of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Before that, he was the senior pastor at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village, Colorado, where I lived for 25 years. There, he was one of the very first pastors to let me come and share the Ezra Project message. I am forever grateful to Dr. Sweeting for taking a risk on me. When I learned he was back in Colorado, I went to see him at CCU. We had a splendid visit. I updated him on the Ezra Project and shared about AdBible. Dr. Sweeting has always been very supportive of our mission to connect God’s people to God’s Word. So now he contributes by being a guest reader in both 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I again am grateful. 1 Thessalonians is five chapters, and Dr. Sweeting will read chapter 1 and chapter 2. So let’s listen to Dr. Don Sweeting read Thessalonians chapter 1.
SPEAKER 02 :
The first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord. For you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
SPEAKER 03 :
To help us through our study of 1 Thessalonians, I’m going to do something different with my Bible reading journals. I found that I read 1 Thessalonians three years in a row. So we’re going to look at journals three years in a row, 1992, 1993, and 1994. I was 37, 38, and 39 years old those years. The first year I read the New Testament. The next year I read various books. And in 1994 I also read just various books of the Bible. So let’s begin with my journal entry from 1992. That year I read 1 Thessalonians chapters 1 and 2 on the same day. Concerning chapter 1 I wrote, Paul was a prayer. Then I wrote, the Lord gave him time by imprisoning him. Help me be an example and sound forth the word of the Lord. And I was referring to verses 7 and 8. The very next year, 1993, I also read 1 Thessalonians, and I wrote about chapter 1, making mention of you in our prayers. Need to pray more for people. And I wrote, His choice of you. God seeks us out. I need to go back to praying salvation for family members and friends. And then lastly, you turn to God from idols. We need people to turn to God from their idols. And in 1994, when reading this chapter, I wrote, “‘Pray, Paul was a man of prayer. “‘I need to do better.'” And then I wrote, for the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you. And that’s quoting verse 8. So let’s look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I notice in the first verse that Paul writes Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. So he writes as a team, not as an individual. And I had mentioned in the introduction that all three of these brothers had preached in Thessalonica. So they’re all writing back to the church. And in all those journals, I mentioned that Paul was a prayer. And you look at verse two, constantly mentioning you in our prayers. So Paul prayed for the church. He mentions in verse five, the gospel came to them not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Is that what the word of God means to you? Is it in your life with power? Is it in your life with the Holy Spirit? Are you fully convicted to the Word and by the Word of God? And look at what happened when they heard the Word of the Lord. Verse 7 says, “…they became an example to others.” Is that what happened to you? When you heard the Word of the Lord, have you become an example to others? Do others see Christianity in you? Their impact was broad. Look at verse 8. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere. Friends, that’s a challenge for us. That’s personal testimony. What is our personal testimony? Is my walk with Christ sounding forth everywhere? If not, why not? The words they heard from Paul, Silas, and Timothy were so impacting they turned away from the idols they had been serving and committed to the true and living God. Let’s look at verse 9. “…for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” Is that what people see in your life? Do they see a change? Do they see something happen when you became a Christian? For many of us, that’s a long time ago. But for some of you, you may be new as Christians. Have people seen a difference? This chapter is a great testimony about the power of the gospel and how it should change our lives. So Paul opens 1 Thessalonians very complimentary. Remember, they were run out of town quickly, so they sent Timothy back, and Timothy reported that the church was doing pretty good. How about you? What has been the impact of the gospel in your own life? When you heard it, did it change you dramatically? Did you receive the word of the Lord with power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction? And if you did when you became a Christian, has it faded? I’ll close with a story. I became a Christian at 15 years old. I went to college and I started to learn more about my faith. I came home many times and visited with my parents. They were churchgoers. They raised me in the church. But the word of the Lord was on me with power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. A little bit more than they could handle. So they finally said, would you please stop talking about this? Please don’t ever bring your Bible into this home again. You are not a priest. You cannot teach us the word of God. I think that’s what this passage means. I was on fire for the Lord then. Yeah, and sometimes when we’re on fire for the Lord, we might burn a few people. But I think I’d rather be on fire for the Lord than be lukewarm. Sure, that fire has faded a little bit over decades. But I still am excited to share my faith with other people. Are you? When was the first time or the last time that you actually shared your faith with a non-believer? Is the word of the Lord sounding forth from you? Let’s pray. Father, the Word of God often convicts us. We thank you that these people in Thessalonica, when they heard the Word of the Lord, were excited and their testimony went forth all around them. Let it be so for us. May we be so excited about our relationship with you. We want to share it with others. Holy Spirit, give us the boldness to do that. These people turn from idol worship to you, and we have people all around us worshiping everything but you. Maybe you can use us to turn them from idol worship toward you as well. The church in Thessalonica grew because people were excited about their relationship with you. Use us to grow your kingdom here as well. As we read through Thessalonians, may your word fall on us again with power in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. In Jesus’ name we ask it. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You have probably noticed I refer to my personal Bible reading journals in AdBible. I took an honors English class in high school and learned about journaling. I kept a journal in high school probably related to that class, and then I quit. For some reason, I started journaling my Bible reading about 10 years later. I don’t know why I decided to journal my Bible reading, but my first journal is dated 1983. Back then, I bought spiral-bound notebooks from a retail store. Nothing fancy. But when I started the Ezra Project, I decided to publish Bible reading journals. You can find two of them on our website at ezraproject.net. Why journal? It will change the way you read the Bible. If you struggle with your daily quiet time, try it. If you know you’re going to write something down after you read, you will pay more attention to what you’re reading. It can be as simple as your favorite verse in the passage or the major point you got out of the passage. You decide. It’s your journal. And it’s not a personal journal. It’s a Bible reading journal. So you shouldn’t have to worry about someone finding it and reading it. I wanted to print a bumper sticker once called Real Men Journal. I figured it would look good on the back of the pickup trucks. Well, you know, I never printed it because I knew it wouldn’t sell. But get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it. And want to share it with others.
